Bruins ward off Devils

Reclaim1st placewith win

Credit: AP

KEEPING COOL: Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin sprawls to make a save as teammate Chris Kelly knocks down the Devils’ David Clarkson during the first period of last night’s game in Newark, N.J.

NEWARK, N.J. — For years now, when the Bruins were at their best, they took great pride in being able to protect even a one-goal lead and close out a win.

Last night, a four-goal lead almost wasn’t enough.

It certainly appears the Bruins have regained much of their missing offensive swagger, with 11 goals scored in the last two games. But the elusive complete 60-minute effort was still absent last night, as a four-goal lead morphed into the B’s hanging on for dear life in a 5-4 victory over the slumping New Jersey Devils.

The two points jumped the Bruins past the idle Montreal Canadiens and back into first place in the Northeast Division.

“The way the game started, very weird,” Tyler Seguin said. “We were capitalizing on our opportunities, but then, when we were up 3-0, we definitely took the foot off the gas a little bit. You saw what happened. We saw ourselves get three goals and we were happy with that. Then they came back, gained the momentum and almost stole one.”

Despite being assessed the game’s first four minors, the B’s claimed a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, via two goals from Gregory Campbell and one from Daniel Paille. Campbell’s second goal and the Paille score were shorthanded tallies.

The lead grew to 4-0 at 3:06 of the second period. During a 4-on-3 power play, an in-deep defenseman Zdeno Chara nudged a loose puck under a less-than-sharp Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

Jaromir Jagr, making an immediate impact with his new team, assisted on two of the first four goals, giving him 1-4-5 totals in four games as a Bruin.

Trailing by four, New Jersey, which is fighting long odds to climb into a playoff spot, launched its comeback. The Devils made it a 4-1 game when a long wrist shot by Patrik Elias snuck past B’s goalie Anton Khudobin, who, like Brodeur, was not at his best.

And then, a potentially devastating play for the Bruins: Brad Marchand was nailed in the head by a vicious elbow from New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov along the side boards in the offensive zone. Marchand crumpled to the ice, looking woozy and wobbly, and was helped off the ice.

Volchenkov received an elbowing major and a game misconduct — with, no doubt, a suspension to follow — and the Bruins went on a five-minute power play. Not only did they produce nothing with the lengthy man advantage, the B’s allowed Travis Zajac to break in alone behind Milan Lucic and net a shorthanded score.

Just like that, the Devils had the momentum, and they scored again early in the third period to make it 4-3, with defenseman Andy Greene putting a wrister from the left circle behind Khudobin.

“We had points in the game where I thought we were doing a great job and dominating,” Seguin said. “And there were points when they had all the momentum.”

It was looking a little sketchy for the Bruins, until a great forecheck and passout to the goalmouth by Paille was tapped in by Seguin to make it 5-3 at 7:33 of the third.

The Devils added a last-minute goal by Matt D’Agostino with Brodeur pulled for the extra attacker, but the B’s hung on until the final horn.

“Either it’s a slow start or a slow finish, and (last night) was a slow second period,” Campbell said. “We sat on our lead, got comfortable a little bit. Good teams find a way to play a complete game and be consistent through a game. Give them credit: They worked hard to get back into the game. But the onus is on us to stay with the game despite the score.”

“It’s pretty obvious we gave them some life,” Julien said. “That was probably the thing that disappoints the most. We had a good first period, we got a little bit lackadaisical in the second. We had to go out in the third and regain momentum. I thought we did a pretty good job of that.

“They scored a goal and made it 4-3, but we didn’t, as we have in the past, panic. We went and got the next goal. There are some good things to build on.”

Give Khudobin (24 saves) the final word.

“I’ll take it,” Khudobin said. “A win is a win, but I could play better, definitely.”